by C. J. Miller
Lawrence watched her work. “We’ve been tracking it. Zoya handled the networking part of the project. We think they have about seventy-five percent of it.”
Kit nodded. “Did you leave a back door to get inside when we were working on the project?”
Zoya shook her head. “I tried to. Someone found it and sealed it off. We’re working blind, but I know what I’m looking for. When the Locker is running at full capacity, it creates a fair amount of traffic to and from the major hubs. Unless Incognito hacked it and then changed the code or redirected network activity, I sniff out the location by traffic content. They have the IP changing every three to seventeen minutes, but I know the MAC address of the device hosting the incomplete copy.”
Kit seemed to understand what Zoya was saying. Griffin was lost.
“How long have you been together?” Lawrence asked.
Griffin and Kit hadn’t discussed their cover with Lawrence and Zoya. Would Kit tell them the truth? He let her field the question.
“We’ve been lovers for a few months,” Kit said.
Lawrence appeared surprised, and Zoya narrowed her eyes. “You two are a couple? I thought you were partners. Working partners.”
“We’re that, too,” Griffin said.
Kit had her reasons for telling them she and Griffin were together, and he didn’t counter her words. Keeping a consistent cover was easier. Less to remember and less likely they’d be caught in a lie.
Kit positioned her tablet on the table. “You’re sure about this information?”
Lawrence nodded. “Zoya’s the best. We’ve checked our numbers. We have a location.”
Kit drummed her fingers against the table. “The Locker should be harder to find. It should disguise its traffic.”
“We have the location of the copy. It didn’t have the same traffic rerouting algorithms or firewalls,” Zoya said. “Incognito must have tried to rebuild the parts they haven’t stolen, but they haven’t achieved the same caliber protection methods.”
“I can try to access the copy and destroy whatever parts I can in the time I have,” Kit said. “I’ll have about fifteen seconds before I’m detected and tossed out.”
“Fifteen seconds is generous,” Zoya said.
“It’s also assuming I don’t get caught in the honey pot, they haven’t modified the code to sever my connection immediately, and they haven’t added levels of authentication.” Kit took a deep breath. “I’ll need you to keep my IP moving, okay?”
Zoya sat, gathered her hair in her hand and secured it on top her head with a clip from her robe. “I can do that. You ready?”
Lawrence took a few steps away from the table and stood next to Griffin. “They’re incredible.”
“Talented,” Griffin said. Of course they were. Zoya was confident. Kit seemed nervous.
Kit stopped typing, her hands hovering above the keys, and looked at Griffin. “Before we do this, could I talk to you alone?”
He nodded. She gestured to the bathroom, and he followed her in. She shut the door, turned on the fan and ran the water.
“Are you attracted to me or is a woman like Zoya more your speed? Or someone like my sister?”
This wasn’t the time or place to have this conversation. “You want to talk about this now?” Griffin asked.
“I’m upset, and that question is rattling around in my brain. When I’m upset I can’t think clearly. I can’t afford to make mistakes. Fifteen seconds isn’t a lot of time to launch an e-missile, direct it into the guts of the code and destroy it.”
“However I answer your question will cause a problem.”
She sighed. “Play it straight with me.”
“You are not the type of woman I usually date.”
Her shoulders sagged, and she looked at the floor.
“But,” he said, lifting her chin to look at him, “I think you are beautiful and smart and charming. I like spending time with you. I wouldn’t have accepted this assignment if I didn’t enjoy being with you. I’m attracted to you, but you are not ready for us to explore that attraction, and I’m not prepared to risk another distraction.”
She ran her finger down his body. She seemed to enjoy touching him. If she were a more experienced woman under different circumstances, he would have let her take off his clothes and do whatever she wanted to him, as long as he could do the same to her.
“That makes me feel better,” Kit said.
“We can talk about this later,” Griffin said. “Are you ready?” he asked and gestured toward the door.
They exited the bathroom. Zoya smirked. “Needed a quickie for stress release?”
Kit said nothing and took her seat. “I’m ready to go. Tell me when.”
Zoya started typing. “Now. Go now.”
* * *
Fifteen seconds. Kit focused on what she knew about the Locker and not on the doubts that pounded at her or the clock ticking.
She hadn’t built the entire system. She’d worked on a small part of the Locker. She could encounter pieces she hadn’t been aware of and be unable to circumvent them. If Incognito had possessed the Locker for any period of time, they could have made changes.
It took her eight seconds to breach the firewall and two more to figure out she’d been led into a trap.
“It’s not real. It’s a honey pot.” She disconnected her computer, but she’d been detected and it was too late.
“Can’t be. I’m sure it is the real deal,” Zoya said.
“Did you mask my network traffic?” Kit asked.
Zoya nodded. “Yes. I think so.”
Kit pulled cords from the devices. “Thinking is not enough.” Kit’s anxiety twisted her stomach into knots. “We have to get out of this room. Burn these computers and this equipment. They’re tainted.”
She tore the electrical cords from the wall and popped out the batteries on the devices.
Griffin was at her side. “How do you know you were caught?”
“No time to explain.” She threw the devices into the box. If anyone else used them, they could be targeted by Incognito. “They’re close. They know.”
Griffin didn’t question her further. “To the car. Immediately.”
They started for the door, but Lawrence and Zoya stopped to pack.
“There’s no time,” Kit said. Incognito had set a trap to target anyone looking for the Locker, including the government. The firewalls Kit had set up to protect her computer weren’t impenetrable, and Zoya’s network address masking could have been stripped away.
Zoya was shoving items in her suitcase. “You’re being a hysteric. No one can figure out where we are and get here that quickly.”
“Unless they are already at the conference,” Kit said, thinking of the drugging at the rave last night. Incognito might already be looking for her, and they might already suspect she was at Gamer Con. They knew her identity and they had stalked her to her sister’s birthday party. They were closing in on her.
Lawrence took Zoya’s hand. “I will replace anything we lose. I cannot replace your life.”
Zoya let out a grunt of frustration, but she stopped packing.
They ran for the elevators. The lights in the hotel went out, and the elevator doors closed. Turning off the power was one of Incognito’s signature moves. It was a show of their strength and abilities. Without the light from the windows at the far ends of the hallway, they would have been surrounded in pitch-blackness.
They had no choice but to use the stairwell. Racing down the stairs, taking them several at a time, they made it to the lobby. It was crowded. Security for the convention was in place around the room, and some guests were complaining about the electricity, but no one seemed panicked. After about thirty minutes when the Nevada sun baked the hotel and the restaurants we
re unable to cook and serve food, the anger would boil over.
A blackout could be explained by a power surge or a problem at the electric company, but this was Incognito.
No one was running or searching for them. Maybe they’d been lucky and Incognito hadn’t tracked her that quickly. Kit had made a colossal mistake trusting that Zoya knew what she was doing. Kit should have validated and reviewed Zoya’s intel first. Zoya was good. Incognito was better.
Griffin didn’t slow down. Kit stayed close to him. He was armed and carrying the box of equipment under his arm. “Parking garage,” he said.
They raced down the hallway toward the garage. Kit opened the metal door leading out of the hotel and the heat hit her, almost sucking the air from her lungs.
Inside the parking structure, they heard only the occasional car horn, squealing tires and engines. A car drove toward them and Kit’s heart seized. The driver ignored them. Not Incognito.
Zoya and Lawrence were arguing in French. Kit wasn’t fluent and only understood every few words. Lawrence was blaming Zoya for this and Zoya blamed Kit.
Kit blamed all three of them. Griffin had tried to warn her. She should have listened to him.
They took the stairs to the level where Griffin was parked and ran for his car.
When they reached the car, relief washed over her. They were getting away! They could find another place, a safer place, regroup and try again. Hope built in Kit’s chest. They had outmaneuvered Incognito. She felt like she had run a marathon and the finish line was in sight.
Gunfire exploded around them.
Griffin dropped the box and pushed Kit around a concrete pillar next to the car. “Stay here. Stay down.” Griffin withdrew his gun and peered around the pillar, returning fire. “They’re using the cars for cover. I can’t get a clean shot.”
Incognito could have staked out the entire hotel, knowing they’d appear. Lawrence and Zoya were squatting behind a car. How would they get out of this?
The gunfire stopped.
A voice came from between the cars. “Lawrence, if you hand them over, we won’t have trouble.”
Alarm skittered through Kit. Had Lawrence sold them out?
“My wife’s been hit. She’s bleeding,” Lawrence said.
Panic flared, making Kit’s stomach twist. Zoya was hurt. She needed medical care, and they were pinned down in the parking structure.
“If you turn yourself in to us, we’ll see she has the medical care she needs,” said the voice from between the cars.
Kit glanced at Zoya and Lawrence. Griffin’s hand was gripping her arm, not letting her move from their position. Zoya was holding her shoulder, and her robe was red with blood.
Lawrence held a gun at her and Griffin. He glanced at his wife. “We need to go with them and they’ll heal her. Please, do it for Zoya.” He sounded anguished.
“You did this?” Zoya asked.
Lawrence ran his hand through his hair. “They needed help. The United States is out of control. They’re using the Locker to control every bit of data on the internet. They have to be stopped.”
Griffin pointed his gun at Lawrence. “Drop it. We’ll get the women out of here. We’ll find Zoya medical help. You don’t have to turn us over to Incognito.”
Lawrence shook his head. “They’ll kill me. They’ll find me. I agreed to help them. I already took the money.”
“If this was your plan, why didn’t you call them when we first made contact?” Kit asked. He could have brought them to the hotel room and Kit, Griffin and Zoya would have been trapped inside.
“They wanted to test you to see if you were as good as everyone says. They wanted to see if you could breach their network. They wanted proof you were Lotus,” Lawrence said.
Kit had passed their test, and now Incognito had confirmed her identity and wanted her to work for them. Lawrence seemed to think he was doing the right thing, or maybe he had let the money convince him it was the right thing.
“They shot Zoya. You have to know they’ll kill you either way,” Kit said.
Lawrence’s eyes were filled with fear. “We can’t escape.” He jabbed a hand through his hair.
Zoya moaned. “Find Arsenic.” She sounded tired and winded.
Kit wasn’t sure she had heard her correctly. “Arsenic isn’t well.”
One of the first engineers on the Locker had recruited the computer scientists and engineers who had worked on the project. Arsenic had suffered a massive stroke and had been hospitalized. He hadn’t recovered and couldn’t talk or walk. He was in a vegetative state, a shell of the genius he once was.
Zoya’s eyes were glossy. “Find him.”
“Arsenic is out there?” Lawrence asked, sounding bewildered.
“Yes,” Zoya said.
Kit tried to process that and couldn’t. Was Zoya losing blood and hallucinating? “Where should I look for him?”
Zoya said nothing.
“You betrayed me, Zoya. You kept secrets. Your secret world on that blasted computer. You never let me inside,” Lawrence said. His hands were shaking, and sweat dripped down his face.
Lawrence lowered his gun and shot Zoya. Lawrence turned his gun on himself. Another shot and Lawrence fell to the ground next to his wife. Kit screamed and turned away.
“I count two shots. That means two of you are alive.” The voice from between the cars again, cold and gruff.
Griffin pressed a finger over his lips. He would get them out of this. Kit couldn’t look at Lawrence or Zoya. Why had Lawrence chosen that way out? They could have escaped.
Griffin knelt on the ground and aimed his gun. He fired. A yelp from someone; he had hit his target.
“Run!” Griffin said.
They dashed from the concrete pillar, and Griffin grabbed her arm and pointed to a black car. “Get in.”
It was locked. Griffin broke the driver’s side window with his elbow, opened the door and hit the unlock button. Kit climbed inside. Griffin tore off the steering panel. Kit heard footsteps and turned around. She didn’t see anyone. Where were they? She felt them coming. Terror gripped her, making words impossible.
Griffin connected two wires. The car started.
He backed out of the spot, narrowly missing the cars parked behind them.
“Are we being followed?” Griffin asked.
She twisted in her seat to look behind them. She didn’t see anyone in pursuit.
“If Incognito has men posted everywhere, we might have been dealing with that one attacker,” Griffin said. “The other posts might not have assembled as backup in time.”
Driving the wrong way down a one-way lane, Griffin skidded the car out of the parking garage. They hit the street and Griffin didn’t slow down.
* * *
Griffin alerted Connor they had two bodies in the garage and possible Incognito assassins waiting at the conference center and hotel, looking for them.
When he disconnected his call, he turned to Kit. They had been driving for ten minutes and he hadn’t spotted a tail. He didn’t know their next move. Kit had been silent. “Are you okay?” he asked.
Kit was pale but calm. “Lawrence shot Zoya and killed himself.”
They had witnessed a deeply disturbing incident. She wasn’t accustomed to violence and death. “Yes.”
“I don’t understand it.”
“He was in over his head and he wanted a way out. If Incognito had caught him, they would have killed him.” Or tortured him and then killed him. “If they didn’t, the United States would have thrown him in jail.” Traitors never fared well, and Griffin had no sympathy for the man who had sold out Kit and Zoya. Griffin wanted to distract Kit and take her mind off the deaths of her two associates. “Tell me what Zoya meant about Arsenic.”
“Arsenic
was amazing with a computer before his stroke. In the middle of the Locker project, he was hospitalized, and he didn’t return.”
Sounded shady, like someone was hiding something. “What else do you know about him?” Griffin asked.
“He’s an off-the-charts genius, but he’s quirky. Probably some undiagnosed form of autism. He was a lead designer on the Locker. He had a hand in selecting every member of the team.”
“Where is he now?” Griffin asked.
“The last I heard, he was recovering in a medical facility in Maryland. His mother lives in the area.”
“What’s the name of the facility?”
“Morningside Acres in Bel Air.”
“I’ll call Connor. We’re headed there.”
Kit touched his arm. “If Zoya suspected that Arsenic was alive, Incognito would know it, too.”
He hoped not. Lawrence had seemed surprised by the information. “Maybe not. Do you know Arsenic’s real name?”
“No real names were to be exchanged. It was part of the security around the project. But it happened,” Kit said.
“We’ll get his real name and check the patient records at the facility where he’s staying.”
Forty minutes later, Kate West had sent a list of possible names for Arsenic. By looking at patient admission dates, they believed John Conrad was Arsenic, mastermind behind the Locker. John Conrad had a thin trail of records prior to being enrolled at Morningside, giving away that John Conrad was likely a government-issued identity.
“He was completely gone,” Kit said. “Even if he’s there and knows who I am, he couldn’t speak to me.”
“Zoya directed us to find him. We need to follow her lead. It’s the only one we have.”
“A lead or a trap?” Kat asked.
“Could be either. But I’m prepared to handle both.”
* * *
After some sleep, a military flight and an hour in their rental car, Griffin and Kit were pulling into the campus of the Morningside Acres Rehabilitation Center located in the suburbs of Bel Air in Maryland. The road leading to the main facility was lined with purple and yellow flowers, and the green grass surrounding the property looked like it was manicured with scissors.